By Matthew Jones
JAMES NORWOOD admits he is delighted to see his old pal Andy Mangan back at Tranmere.
The pair spent six months playing together at Prenton Park last year, notching 16 goals between them.
Their fearsome partnership was split up when Mangan joined Shrewsbury last January, but he is now back on the Wirral after returning to play under Micky Mellon.
And the pair have already shown what they are capable of, with Norwood scoring from a Mangan assist against Forest Green last Tuesday.
“He’s an intelligent footballer, he knows the runs,” he said. “We’re similar sorts of strikers but we can both do each others jobs. One can drop deep, the other can go in behind.
“So we know the balls that we both want and we are both capable of playing them. Hopefully with Andy Cook, Jake Kirby and Connor Jennings coming back too, we’ve got a formidable strike force.”
Norwood’s goal at the New Lawn took his tally for the season to eight goals, a decent return for someone who was hit with a three match ban and spent a month out injured.
He is somewhat behind Cook when it comes to Rovers’ top scorer though, with the former Barrow man already finding the back of the net 12 times.
Norwood though insists he is not driven on by trying to finish as their leading marksman.
“It’s a nice accolade to have,” he continued. “But as long as we’re winning games, I’m scoring goals and Mangan and Cook are scoring goals, it really doesn’t matter.
“I just want that medal around my neck. It has been a frustrating time. I was injured when Micky Mellon came in. And I can’t say much about the red for obvious reasons, but it was very disappointing that I missed the three games.
“But I’ve got my chance now, I’m back fit, I’ve scored again and I’m looking to build on that now.”
